ERs to Stay out of Immigration Checks

The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday against a bill requiring hospital workers to investigate the immigration status of all patients seeking emergency medical care.

Under the legislation, if a patient was found to be in the United States illegally, emergency room doctors and nurses would have been responsible for collecting identifying information, including fingerprints and photographs, and the name of the patient’s employer. That information would have been sent to the Department of Homeland Security, triggering deportation procedures.

Hospital associations joined immigrant-rights advocates in opposing the bill.

“Nurses and doctors are in the business of saving lives, not acting as agents for the Border Patrol,” said the president of the California Healthcare Assn., C. Duane Dauner, applauding the 88-331 vote on the bill.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), had been promised that he could introduce the proposal in return for his vote last November supporting the overhaul of the Medicare system. Rohrabacher had opposed a provision in the Medicare bill subsidizing emergency care for illegal immigrants. He was prepared to vote against the bill before House leaders agreed to bring his legislation to the floor.

The bill’s supporters included eight California Republicans -- Randy “Duke” Cunningham of San Diego, John T. Doolittle of Rocklin, Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley, Duncan Hunter of El Cajon, Gary G. Miller of Diamond Bar, George P. Radanovich of Mariposa, Ed Royce of Fullerton and Rohrabacher. All other members of the California delegation voted against it.

Despite the defeat, Rohrabacher pledged Tuesday that his proposal would “live to fight another day.”